Where am I? What day is it?
I think it's safe to say that this past weekend was one of my most unique Halloween experiences to date.Saturday I was convinced to go out on a "Halloween Hash". I've never heard of a "hash" but it was explained to me as being a scavenger hunt. A beer scavenger hunt to be more specific. Money is collected and a group runs ahead to mark out the trail. You run (Now I know "run" should've been taken more literally!) and follow the arrows and glowsticks to find the "beer stops". Sounds simple enough. Well....
First off we were all in costume. But, I noticed that almost every ones costume had an athletic element to it. We had a kayaker, a Lance Armstrong, and a very energetic Luigi in the group -whom kept running and and jumping up uppercutting as if he were breaking blocks. Pretty much everyone had running shoes on too. I did not. I had boots on to go with my Rosie The Riveter ensemble. And a purse. The "scavenger hunt" ended up being more of an iron man challenge through the back woods of Daejeon. We ran through the mud, hopped fences, hiked up hills through graveyards, crawled under bridges, and sprinted through the streets past Koreans with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Oh, did I mention it was raining to? And, that this "course" ended up being a 5k. Yeah! 5k with only two beer stops! I'm definitely not in the shape I was prior to moving here and my boots were not helpful at all! We ran all the way from Yeosung Spa back to Dunsan -where I live. It took us about 2.5 hours. Running! But, it was great to meet new people! I met a hilarious Scotsman named Stu who was dressed up as a pirate. He insisted on chain-smoking and running...impressive? hahaa And a group from the great state of Delaware -who were surprised I even knew Delaware existed let alone Newark. Like I said: Definitely a unique Halloween.
Once we reached Dunsan we hung out at our normal post and were approached time and time again by people wanting pictures with us. I'm guessing I'm in at least 17 different people's phone. A group of Korean children were parading around Dunsan in costumes as well. They were super cute and told us Happy Halloween and actually handed us candy! Adorable. I stayed out...incredibly late. I went to sleep at 7am! And woke up at 9am because I'm a crazy person. Let's just say I took the real first nap of my adult life yesterday. 3-6pm! I woke up at 6pm thinking I slept through an entire day and missed school. I didn't. But my internal clock is extremely confused and my external body is extremely sore. Happy Halloween! Uggghh...
 |
| Rosie The Riveter makes an appearance in Korea. |
That weekend chaos definitely put a spin on my already tedious Monday and Tuesday classes. But on Monday I successfully played Price Is Right with my 4th graders. And on Tuesday I played an alphabet "slap" game with my 3rd graders that was equally successful. I've won over 3rd and 4th grade, teetering on 5th grade, and 6th grade is just another world. They find me interesting, but don't want to do anything in class. Anything! Today I was extremely surprised to receive "I'm sorry" candy from a group of 6th grade girls. My coteacher was shocked. As was I.
And yesterday I took a class on how to play the Ocarina. It's a traditional Korean instrument similar to a flute. That's the closest thing I can compare it to. But, halfway through the lesson it was assumed that I could read music. I can't. Obviously. So I was singled out time and time again until finally they caught on. It's not that I didn't want to try and play...I just didn't know where the "Doe" was compared to the "Rae". haha Ughh...
Today was actual Halloween Day. No pumpkins. No cider. No parades of costumes. Kinda sad. It's my favorite holiday! But today I did manage to pull together a last minute 'hippie' costume for school. I wore contacts for the first time at school...and boy, was that ever eventful. I think tomorrow I may feel the wrath for wearing glasses again. Students were running up to me in droves saying "Teacher! Beautiful!" And one boy even threw himself on the desk and upon rising began to sing Adele's Rolling In The Deep chorus: "We could of had it aaaaaaalll!" -Hilarious. But seriously, never again. I don't need any added attention.
Today was a teacher field trip -meaning, we got to leave work early and walk around a park and meet up later for dinner. Mrs. Nam had to go pick up her son so it was just me and Chani walking around together. She is quite the amazing woman. I found out that she's traditionally trained opera singer! Amazing! And what else is amazing, despite our obvious cultural and language barriers we are very similar. She is all about walking her own path and sees tradition as a guideline as opposed to strict rule. She's about to turn 31 and isn't married -and she's ok with it! A rarity by Korean standards. And USA standards for that matter. We're going to go see a musical together. :) Dinner was an interesting event and of course I was put on the spot -as per usual. I was asked to stand up and read a Shel Silverstien poem in front of the entire group last minute. Haha, no big deal. I guess it was just to prepare me for my audition I have coming up on Sunday. Yep, that's right. I'm auditioning for a play. I saw an open call for auditions for a theatre festival coming up in December and I figured why not!
Dinner was yummy. It was eel -which I'm not especially a fan of, but the side dishes were amazing. Our whole table was covered with little bowls of yumminess.
0 comments: